


Ethicality

by HappyCannibal



Category: Original Work
Genre: Androids, Murder, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 08:07:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28632234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HappyCannibal/pseuds/HappyCannibal
Summary: A routine Culling makes a worker think differently about his job.





	Ethicality

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Detroit Become Human and Cabin in the Woods. Written in 2018 for a class.

The large screen in front of them showed the aftermath of the latest Culling. Walls were drenched in splattered blood and gore. In the middle of the horror were the mangled bodies of four teenaged girls, no older than fifteen, and a large, masked man standing over them, holding a dripping ax. The masked man looked towards the tiny camera in the corner of the room and raised the ok hand sign.

The workers in the observation room let out a collective sigh. Some clapped each other on the back in congratulations, others high fiving while chatting. Finally they could take a much needed break. This Culling was particularly bad, the conversations went, the worst in quite a while. The girls just did not want to cooperate, dragging the ordeal on for hours longer than planned and resulted in more destruction than usual. As most of the workers began to file out of the doors, the two androids remained in their seats. Their jobs weren’t done yet. The mess still needed to be cleaned up.

“That took longer than expected,” David huffed, running a hand through his short brown hair, mindful to stay away from the seams. “The first we saw one like that. Was about to lose hope for a second but another job’s well done. At least it was entertaining. No wonder humans like torture porn movies so much. What do you think, Dan? Daniel?”

He turned his chair towards his companion beside him, questioning his silence. They shared the same face, having been the same model. Same hair color, same pale complexion, even the same black and navy blue clothing but that was because of their uniforms. Twins, the human technicians often called the two despite there being three others who looked like them in the Cleaning Division and all not being biologically related. Daniel was still staring at the large screen in front of their shared control panel, his eyes wide. David glanced back at it to see the man had already left. David, confused, placed a hand on Daniel’s shoulder. His twin turned his head to him as if coming out of a trance.

“It’s just…” Daniel started in a quiet voice but then stopped. It was like he didn’t exactly know what to say. “Don’t you ever question _why_ we’re doing this?”

David blinked at the other instead of answering right away. Everyone who worked for the Company knew why they were doing this. Ever since the human population reached 8 billion, the governments of the G10 felt the problem needed a solution. That solution was controlled killings. When technology for androids was created, the Company used that technology to create their own workers who could work for days on end and follow orders to the T, all programmed to adhere to the program’s mission. Even though androids did experience spikes in their simulated emotions, it was a rare occurrence. Their purpose was to perform their jobs to make human lives easier, not question it. David narrowed his eyes at his double.

“You know why, Dan,” David said slowly. He was suspicious. This was not like him. “We have to decrease the population for the ‘good of humanity’.” Daniel rolled his eyes and huffed, growing agitated.

“You just quoted the Company’s mission statement,” He muttered. Daniel shook his head. “But why like this? Why _slaughter_ them? Surely there are more ethical ways.”

“Sponsors wouldn’t like that,” David deadpanned. It was true. Although government backed, most of the Company’s money came from rich investors and sponsors who watched the Cullings like they were TV shows or movies. If they wanted gore, they got gore. The Company supplied, investors got their jollies, and money was exchanged. Everyone’s happy. “Quite a few wanted a graphic scene this time around.”

“Then the sponsors are _wrong_!” Daniel exclaimed, jumping up out of his chair, pushing it back. Some of the human stragglers looked over at him and whispered to each other. “We just butchered four innocent kids! They weren’t criminals. They didn’t bully classmates. They just wanted to have a sleepover! Those girls were begging for their lives, David. Why couldn’t we just let them go peacefully and painless, poison the air or something? Why must we _always_ listen to what the sponsors want, especially when all they want to blood?! It’s not _fair_!”

David stared at his twin like he grew a second head. Daniel knew the process of how the Company chose who would die. The girls would have been useless in society, all below average students and one mentally handicapped. They were picked because of their short comings and the Company could always use extra money. The Teen Division usually got the requests for Cullings similar to scenes straight out of a horror film.

But Daniel’s actions were not unheard of in the Company among androids. Some did crack under the pressure, especially when the Culling went off the rails. Just last week, David recalled, one named Jenna in the Elderly Division prevented the death of an old woman by launching the emergency stop code because she lived longer than expected after the division overdosed her with her IV medicine. She said nothing as she did it, alerting no one until it was too late. The woman still ended up dying but out of plain old age. Of course Jenna’s actions didn’t come without consequences. She was swiftly brought to the technicians and had her memory wiped. This happened to all of the Company’s androids whose emotions spiked too high to retain order and control. These actions were unexpected from Daniel, though, who has dutifully pressed buttons and monitored Cullings with him for the three years they’ve been active. David didn’t want his friend to be wiped.

‘ _Was this one the breaking point or has Daniel felt this way for a while?_ ’ David thought as he quickly tugged on Daniel’s vest, urging him to sit back down. Daniel, hearing the humans talking about his outburst behind him, complied and placed his chair back in place. David rolled his chair closer to his friend’s so they had a little privacy.

“Daniel, you can’t do this. Not right now. You know what will happen if you draw too much attention to yourself,” He whispered, pressing a finger to the other’s lips when he saw him about to protest. “Our job’s not over yet. We still need to call in the cleaning crew. We’ll talk more later, alright?” David felt Daniel slowly nod but his eyes were pleading for him to understand. He removed his hand and the two turned back towards their controls in an attempt to appear normal. Daniel pressed the intercom button to call the cleaning crew to the scene to dispose of the girls as David pressed keys to save the data collected for conversion to other media. Daniel sounded like he didn’t just have a small breakdown. When David glanced over at him, he saw his twin starting to cry.

“There has to be another way.” Daniel whispered, tears shining on his cheeks.

Maybe a memory wipe would be best for him after all.


End file.
